"We don't have a Congress anymore, we have a parliament," said Representative Jim Cooper of Tennessee, one of the last Blue Dogs. "We moderates are an endangered species, but we are also a necessary ingredient for any problem solving."

I wish. But that would suggest multiple parties and coalitions and the like.

And THIS is why it is so god damned important to focus on 'grass roots' like the Tea Party has done. This whole business of 'is the GOP done as a national party' is a farce. If they control the state legislatures, they win Congress. And Congress controls the purse strings and legislative agenda. It is no accident that Obama couldn't push anything through these last 2 years.

The erosion of moderation in Congress started decades ago. The decennial Congressional redistricting, which has been done almost exclusively by state legislatures, has continued the creation of gerrymandered districts that keep competitive elections anomalies."Some candidates don't even have to wake up on Election Day to win," Mr. LaTourette said. "I have not seen yet a redistricting proposal that is anything other than trying to favor one side over the other."

This sort of thing makes me wish I were a person who could become a local politician. I am not a great people person, but dammit, we need people who are open minded at all levels of Government. I love my desert home and want it to do well. Government can and should be a tool used to provide solutions to our problems, not a monolithic entity to hate and fear.

Totally worthless, they deserve the door to hit them on the ass as hard as possible on the way out. We got the right's watered down health care plan thanks to them. The centrist plan was the government option, which noone really in their right mind would oppose unless they were thoroughly brainwashed. Single payer, there are definitely plenty of good arguments against. The government option should have been the compromise. Fark the blue dogs for not letting it happen.

The Democrats (at least the mainstream ones like Obama) ARE the centrists these days. There is no left.

A group of Democrats who are centrists, known as Blue Dogs, have been all but eviscerated from the House over the last few elections, and now three who have been in the Republicans' cross hairs for years are fighting uphill battles for re-election.

No. Blue Dogs are NOT centrists. They exist only to patronize old or dead staunch conservatives who never evolved to bother understanding either parties' platform.

Totally worthless, they deserve the door to hit them on the ass as hard as possible on the way out. We got the right's watered down health care plan thanks to them. The centrist plan was the government option, which noone really in their right mind would oppose unless they were thoroughly brainwashed. Single payer, there are definitely plenty of good arguments against. The government option should have been the compromise. Fark the blue dogs for not letting it happen.

The Democrats (at least the mainstream ones like Obama) ARE the centrists these days. There is no left.

The other guys are so partisan! Not my guys! We are not partisan! Just the other guys!

SpectroBoy:Nadie_AZ: And THIS is why it is so god damned important to focus on 'grass roots' like the Tea Party has done.

Sorry. There is no problem to which the solution is the Tea Party, unless the problem is "I wish there were more crazy people on TV"

I'm not giving them love for anything more than their ability to organize at a local level. Progressives need to start doing this. Again. I thought I felt a faint whisper of it back in '07 and '08, but it seemed to disappear when Obama was elected.

Oh for fark's sake, don't tell me that the Blue Dogs are trying to change the meaning of "Centrist" and "Moderate" like the local trolls changed the meaning of "Independent." Goddamnit, I'm running out of words here.

Step 1: Remove the Senate entirely. It was a great idea at the time, back when the various states really were independent governments joined together in a union, and a compromise was necessary in order to prevent populous states from dominating the new federal government. But we are well past that, now. No one from Missouri has killed anyone just for being from Kansas in over a century. The 14th Amendment ensures the states must protect all of the rights that the federal government must protect. The notion of the republic is kind of quaint, now, and we are much more mobile. The Senate is no longer necessary. At a minimum, constitutionally mandate majority votes for everything not explicitly requiring a super-majority. Take away their filibuster toy, and they'll start moving legislation.

Step 2: Remove the state's ability to gerrymander by requiring proportional voting methods for congressional elections. If your state has 10 congressmen, then you get 10 votes to distribute among whatever candidates you like. Like one guy a lot? Give him all 10. Like two guys? Split it up five votes each. Or one vote for 10 different people. Top vote getters go to congress. This will moderate the candidates by requiring them to appeal to a broader selection of voters, and eliminate the state legislature's ability to gerrymander a candidate they don't like out of office.

Fluorescent Testicle:Oh for fark's sake, don't tell me that the Blue Dogs are trying to change the meaning of "Centrist" and "Moderate" like the local trolls changed the meaning of "Independent." Goddamnit, I'm running out of words here.

Don't forget how they changed the meanings of "conservative" and "liberal".

/Yes, there is a conservative party in America.//They're called Democrats.

Fark this bullshiat with the Blue Dog Democrats. Call them what they really are: Bought Off Democrats, such as Sen. Evan Bayh ("D" - Indiana) who objected to the health care reform act. Why? Well, it surely had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that his wife sat on several boards, including that of Wellpoint. Good farking riddance to the whole lot of them, and maybe we can have a political movement other than Republican and Republican Lite.

FreakinB:So we get right into the political ramifications of the quote and don't have any fun whatsoever with the fact that the quote comes from Arnold Schwarzenegger? Come on people.

What more punchlines can be made of Schwarzenegger that Schwarzenegger isn't capable of making by himself? The only bigger joke than the Governator is all those idiotic Californians who voted for him. What?! A former bodybuilder DIDN'T know how to fix your state's financial woes? I'm shocked, I really am.

EyeballKid:FreakinB: So we get right into the political ramifications of the quote and don't have any fun whatsoever with the fact that the quote comes from Arnold Schwarzenegger? Come on people.

What more punchlines can be made of Schwarzenegger that Schwarzenegger isn't capable of making by himself? The only bigger joke than the Governator is all those idiotic Californians who voted for him. What?! A former bodybuilder HotWingConspiracy: EyeballKid: What?! A former bodybuilder DIDN'T know how to fix your state's financial woes? I'm shocked, I really am.

Ahahaha

I like that his plan was essentially identical to Davis' plan that got him recalled.

the GOP invented modern partisanship. it sprang from lee atwater's bosom and was nurtured and perfected by tom delay and newt gingrich. it was taught to speak by frank luntz. and it was trained as a suicide bomber in the madrassas of mitch mcconnell and john boehner.

Fluorescent Testicle:Oh for fark's sake, don't tell me that the Blue Dogs are trying to change the meaning of "Centrist" and "Moderate" like the local trolls changed the meaning of "Independent." Goddamnit, I'm running out of words here.

Blue Dogs: Hey guys! Hey guys! You need to compromise with us!Democrats: Aren't you Democrats? Shouldn't you already be on our side?Blue Dogs: We're moderates!Democrats: Um, ok. So what's your suggestion for compromise?Blue Dogs: We should do whatever the Republicans say.Democrats: What?Blue Dogs: If we don't, Sean Hannity might call us the L-word.Democrats: Lesbian?Blue Dogs: No, the other one!Democrats: Liberal?Blue Dogs: SHHH! Don't say it out loud! Voters might hear!Democrats: Who cares what Sean Hannity says?Blue Dogs: You don't have to get so defensive!Democrats: Being a moderate doesn't mean you take money from the Democrats and then vote with Republicans on every issue.Blue Dogs: Um...Democrats: If you don't agree with anything in the party platform, then why did you join the Democrats in the first place?Blue Dogs: Well... the Tea Party said we were too moderate.Democrats: So no one likes you then?Blue Dogs: Our moms like us.Democrats: If no one likes you and you don't stand for anything, what makes you think you can be a power broker in Congress?Blue Dogs: Because we're moderate!Democrats: No, you're opportunists. We're trying to solve some serious issues and you just want to float on the political winds.Blue Dogs: Moderate!Voters: These guys are douchebags. We might as well just vote for Republicans.Blue Dogs: Hey!Democrats: hahaBlue Dogs: This is your fault!Democrats: How is it our fault?Blue Dogs: Because you're too liberal!Democrats: If that's so bad, why did we keep our seats and you were voted out?Blue Dogs: Um...Banks: Hey, want to be on our boards?Blue Dogs: Yipee!Democrats: Douchebags.

Well, look at both sides. Dubya and his cronies villified several veterans for political purposes, ramped up Arab fear, ignored a drowning city, outed a covert agent, caused two wars that were left off the books while he was in office, and gave Goldman Sachs an honorary position in our legislature.

Totally worthless, they deserve the door to hit them on the ass as hard as possible on the way out. We got the right's watered down health care plan thanks to them. The centrist plan was the government option, which noone really in their right mind would oppose unless they were thoroughly brainwashed. Single payer, there are definitely plenty of good arguments against. The government option should have been the compromise. Fark the blue dogs for not letting it happen.

The Democrats (at least the mainstream ones like Obama) ARE the centrists these days. There is no left.

The other guys are so partisan! Not my guys! We are not partisan! Just the other guys!

/!

I'm no democrat, never will be. Was a Republican (voted McCain 2000 primaries, Bush 2000 election, Schwarzenegger twice) but got disgusted by the direction Rove and Rumsfeld took my old party so now I'm "decline to state".

I'd love for there to be more representation of true conservative ideals, libertarian ideals, green ideals, centrist ideals, heck even socialist ideals, even though I don't necessarily agree with them. We need to have some vigorous intellectual debate in this country, and all options should be on the table. Demonizing that which you don't understand and creating untouchable platforms isn't servings us anymore.

What I really dislike is the overton window effect that the 'right' has had on the political landscape, so that they not only pulled their party off the rails (whatever happened to fiscal conservancy and/or compromise?), but in the process pulled the left over the middle and turned themselves into caricatures of what conservatism truly represents.

As far as I could tell, it's 90% "Democrats are bad" to 10% "Republicans are bad but not as bad as Democrats," and therefore the exact opposite of reality, but my eyes rolled right out of their sockets and I haven't found them both yet so I only got about half-way through.

Things have changed. Now I vote my conscience regardless of party. Still prefer some modicum of fiscal restraint, coupled with "stay the fark out of people's private lives" social policy. Not enough politicians out there that represent that. Seems both the left and right are warmongering, free-spending nanny staters. Fark the lot of them...

EyeballKid:What more punchlines can be made of Schwarzenegger that Schwarzenegger isn't capable of making by himself? The only bigger joke than the Governator is all those idiotic Californians who voted for him. What?! A former bodybuilder DIDN'T know how to fix your state's financial woes? I'm shocked, I really am.

In fairness, nobody can save California. They have a direct democracy. They're f*cked.

Depends on what you mean by "centrism". The Democratic Party is, by the standards of post-WWII politics, the centrist party; they're not as pro-union as they used to be* and nobody is willing to propose the high marginal tax rates of a Francois Hollande or even Richard Nixon. More than a few are willing to play ball with big corporations and moneyed interests. On the other hand, the Republican Party is taken over by Biblical literalists, Objectivists / faux libertarians, and global warming denialists, all of whom refuse to regard such petty things like "facts" or "history"** when considering legislation. Some would call compromising with these Republicans "centrism"; but by any historical measure such a compromise would be solidly in the right side of the political spectrum.

*see Rahm Emmanuel's face-off with the Chicago teacher's union**actual history, not mythologized history

EyeballKid:FreakinB: So we get right into the political ramifications of the quote and don't have any fun whatsoever with the fact that the quote comes from Arnold Schwarzenegger? Come on people.

What more punchlines can be made of Schwarzenegger that Schwarzenegger isn't capable of making by himself? The only bigger joke than the Governator is all those idiotic Californians who voted for him. What?! A former bodybuilder DIDN'T know how to fix your state's financial woes? I'm shocked, I really am.

"The (Governor) is always a controversial choice, always an infuriating but fascinating character. His job is not to wield power but to draw attention away from it."

Ayn Rand's Social Worker:EyeballKid: FreakinB: So we get right into the political ramifications of the quote and don't have any fun whatsoever with the fact that the quote comes from Arnold Schwarzenegger? Come on people.

What more punchlines can be made of Schwarzenegger that Schwarzenegger isn't capable of making by himself? The only bigger joke than the Governator is all those idiotic Californians who voted for him. What?! A former bodybuilder DIDN'T know how to fix your state's financial woes? I'm shocked, I really am.

"The (Governor) is always a controversial choice, always an infuriating but fascinating character. His job is not to wield power but to draw attention away from it."

So let me ask you this. Why did you vote for Arnie, and not Gary Coleman in that election?

Totally worthless, they deserve the door to hit them on the ass as hard as possible on the way out. We got the right's watered down health care plan thanks to them. The centrist plan was the government option, which noone really in their right mind would oppose unless they were thoroughly brainwashed. Single payer, there are definitely plenty of good arguments against. The government option should have been the compromise. Fark the blue dogs for not letting it happen.

The Democrats (at least the mainstream ones like Obama) ARE the centrists these days. There is no left.

anyone who refers to the PPACA as *fixing* healthcare is an idiot and a partisan douche. and the problem isn't partisanship, it is the fact that both parties first and foremost tailor every piece of legislation so it satifies the monied rent seekers. PPACA is the perfect example. It could have been written by HCA. In fact that is who obama cut the deal with to kill the public option, HCA.